Was a Boomshakalaka 2015... Booyah 2016 !!!

This photo best describe Myanmar with
the men-operated Ferris Wheel. You know
the risks, but you get up for a ride of your life
and then you go again. Booyah! 

Another year!! Egad!! Where did all the time go? And wait, once again, lemme dust out these cobwebs from my blog... Very unbecoming of a writer to have cobwebs on her blog page. Tsk. Tsk.

2015 had been another blessed year. It was bang full, packed up to the brim with work, new projects, the Youth Centre, the SoyAi Boys, more work, bang-head-on-wall, lots of training, fight camps, travels, new experiences, a spa venture, ASEAN Impact Challenge, more travels, eCommerce (my biggest yuck of the year), more training, new training programmes, teaching, more teaching, lots of food, more head-banging, new friends and even a Crossfit certification. Was that a boomshakalaka year or what? :D

It may not all have been peachy, bed-of-roses but if I had to count my blessings, I'd say it was yet another awesome year. So many great new experiences, both on the work front and on the personal front. Sometimes, it's funny how when we're going through the shit, and we wanna throw in the towel, but we grit our teeth and bear with it just one more try (and then one more try... Ok, and just one more!!) - much like the pain you get from doing 100 burpees and you say "I can't anymore!!!" But you push till you hit your 100th and you go "Booyah!! I did it!! I. OWN. YOU."
That pretty much sums up 2015 for me. Upon reflection, I've actually learnt much more from going through the shit than I would've, had I brought out the white flag. Plus, I'm not a giver-upper. I may go all yucks on that eComm project, but I ain't gonna quit till it is launched!! Actually, work had been pretty tough this year and the crazy salary increment had created a lot more stress for me which made work life a lot less enjoyable. What do people say about money being evil and all again? But you know what? Just....just one more try!! And I'm still officially a part-time consultant. I've the best job in the world! :)

Moving forwards.... Hello 2016! I think it's safe to say that my plate will continue to be packed full to the brim cos that's how I like it. There'll be a few major changes though... And the first being me stepping down and away from the SoyAi project. As many of you know, the SoyAi Boys were recently in Malaysia participating in the ASEAN Impact Challenge and watching them stand up in front of the judges, competing against financial analysts, investment bankers, tech developers, in English, in a PPT file they prepared. It was definitely the proudest, proudest moment for me. Can you imagine that once upon a time, they didn't even know how to switch on a computer? And their English language was limited to "Hi, how are you, I'm fine, Thank You." Just, booyah again! And I knew then, it's really, really time for me to let go. I've brought them this far, this high. How high they will now fly depends solely on them. They are no longer boys. It will be hard of course. But I cannot always be there to hold their hands and cushion their fall. When they made their moving on plans without me, I was a little saddened. Geez. But it'll be harder I assume, to watch them fall and the only thing to do is pray they'll get up stronger - all by themselves. So good luck Boys!! You can do it!! As the trend goes : "May The Force Be With You." (#notafan :P)

Well, I'm going to take my time looking at the possibility of another project. This time, I'm hoping to empower marginalized women. So we'll see. Meanwhile, life as a lecturer will officially begin for me as I take on a teaching position at one of the colleges for industry professionals here in Yangon. This should be fun! Ten years ago, if someone were to tell me I'd be teaching someday, like my Mama and Papa, I'd be ROFL-ing. !! Who knew right?

Not only am I gonna be teaching advertising and digital marketing, I've also taken on a fitness class at the gym as well. This definitely is a lot more fun and I've already started on this one. Glad that I've yet to kill anyone LOL and the members who come for the class have that "Just.One.More!!!" booyah factor too :) All those time and money invested in my certifications, now is time to earn back them moolahs for it, man! So, coming up in 2016, I will be taking on more fitness classes and help people get lean and mean, like moi :)

I'm not one to make NY Resolutions. This is what happens with them :

2016 Resolutions :
1) Wear more dresses LMAO!! No man. Just no. I'll wear happy anytime.

2) Train less. Sleep more. You've gotta be kidding me, right? Might as well say "be grumpy all da time" :P

3) Be a better wife. Say whaaaat?? I'm already fabulous as a wife :P Duh.

4) Talk softer in the office. My voice is naturally loud. I don't need a mic.

Just scratch all that.

In 2016, I'm gonna work hard, I'm gonna try hard (I will still bitch though, don't get me wrong!) and I'm gonna balance it all out with my passion projects (think fitness, races, empowerment of marginalized groups). And I will live only by one rule :

"When you get, GIVE. When you learn, TEACH." ~ Maya Angelou
(was from that inspirational speech by the mayor of Hawaii)

So, to all my loved ones and friends - may 2016 be as boomshakalaka for all of yous and remember, always #LOOK4THEGOOD :)

6th Year, Baby!!!

At the Baan Chaang Elephant Park June 2015

25th August 2015 : Today, we celebrate our 6th year wedding anniversary. 6 years! Well, actually if counting the official marriage certification which all the old folks insisted upon, it's 7 years. That plus the dating period, it's 9 years together. Wowza. And it still feels like we got married last year :)

What's new? Nothing very much actually. Aside from both of us being really crazy busy with work and the fact with MOH being in the mobile industry and me spearheading the digital stuff in the company, we have our faces stuck to our phones half the time. With the digital invasion, we never stop working :( And yes, very funny, sometimes, we communicate that way too. Of course we have times where we force ourselves to disconnect, you know. Just for a bit of sanity.

In my last trip home to see Ah Por, I told her I worried about her when I'm away. She retorted by saying she worried about me even more. Apparently, my frequent trips back home alone had caused her much worry as she thought that it meant "trouble was brewing" because I am so "samseng" all the time or we were "growing apart" and also that "your husband not happy because you don't know how to cook." (whaaaat?? where did that come from?? Who's been telling her tales??) Worse - we don't have kids yo! I just LMAO. But to thwart her worries, I went about regaling her with tales of our relationship.

Our relationship had been really easy and I thank God for that always. Whilst we've both gotten really busy since the start of 2015 - like, I don't even know how or why I got this busy at work!! We make it a point to spend the weekends doing something together that is not work or Youth Centre-related. Grocery shopping or checking out a new restaurant in town or simply swimming. Grocery shopping is by far the most real for any couples. Never in my younger days would I have imagined asking this : "So, which toilet roll shall we get? This one is expensive but it's got floral prints." :P Friday date nights and Sunday brunches, we try to keep it exclusive to ourselves. But on some occasions, we do socialize and meet up with some friends. Me - I'm the anti-social one. Actually, we're both pretty anti-social. But he's got no choice sometimes. Work-needs. My work doesn't require me to socialize so it's awesome. Plus, I never have anything to wear :P 

You know, it was MOH who actually debunked my fairy-tale notion of "you jump, I jump". Truth is - understanding each other is important. And when I'm thanking God, I'm thankful for the fact that this understanding developed and grew with ease and no drama :) We just know that we've got our shit to do and we need to get it done because that's the type of people we are. We committed to our employers or projects or the children so we need to do the best that we can. On top of that, we also have our own hobbies and passion that we pursue and just the same as I still can't understand why 22 grown men would run around after a bloody ball, he can't understand why I would torture myself by signing up for an intensive fitness boot camp! So, if I was home late and dinner meant instant noodles or some bread with canned curry, he doesn't complain. (Because if he does, I'll ask him to make his own dinner LMAO!!) Or if I've cooked a nice and "proper" meal as Ah Por would say and he called to say he's got dinner with Miss Myanmar, I say "Oh, ok. You'll be having leftovers tomorrow." Speaking of food, the funniest conversation would be him checking out what food I had packed for him for his lunch. When I asked him why, he said "I need to know how much energy I have to use because you will say use the power of my imagination." Like, seriously ROFL - for me. Yes, he would have some annoying 'meal-order' like Loh Mai Kai or Hokkien Mee or whatever and I would say "Sure. It's all in your mind....... If you think it's Hokkien Mee, then it'll be Hokkien Mee." :P 

Our one daily passion is the fact that we love annoying each other! LOL! I was telling Ah Por how we would hide behind doors to scare the bejesus out of each other (I actually have a celebratory dance when I am successful in scaring the shit out of him!!) or take photo evidence of how our sleeping positions disturb the other person - him, especially him and his elbows.. aargh which he then denies and instead tells me I'm lethwei kicking him in my sleep.... or how I would pour cold water over the shower door at him or him switching off the water heater when I'm showering in the middle of winter....or how he loves trying to poke my tongue when I am yawning.....  and if all else fails, it's just plain ol' monkey-faces and witty sarcasms. This happens a lot especially when he's upset that I've gotten his white shirt pink - AGAIN! "Real men wear pink!" or "I told you not to wear anymore whites!" and again, if all else fails, I just mock him behind his back while he's mumbling and scrubbing out his stained favourite WHITE shirt :P You know, he also ain't Da Tiger for nothing. Sometimes, he'd go "WEIIIII!!!!" like really loud and I would jump out of my skin. And then he would say "Huh. Must be did something wrong that's why scared of my roar." What an idiot! Anyway, in all of these, Ah Por said "So, still like children! Why not give birth to one??!" #slapforehead

I think any DINK couple would agree - when living together, there always seem to be a fairy or a gnome in the house too because you get these conversations ALOT.

"You took all my loose change!"
"No I didn't." 

"You idiot. You left the door opened again!"
"It wasn't me!" 

"Where did you hide my phone??"
"I didn't take your phone." 

"You didn't close the refrigerator door properly!"
"I didn't open the fridge!" 

You get the drift. And honestly, there are only TWO people in the house! :/ 

To say the least, we're both actually quite anal in our own ways. I'm not OCD ok :P I just like things in their correct position, compartmentalized and organized properly. I can still remember back in Cambodia when we didn't have help with the chores, my poor hubby would be standing outside the balcony trying to determine the floor mat colour to make sure he got the right ones placed where it was supposed to be placed. (You see, the floor mats were all of the same colour, except there's the older ones, thus colour is not as bright and I know exactly which one goes where... he on the other hand, #slapforehead!) When things are not in the correct 'compartments', it disturbs my chi :P Just the same as him being really anal about his car!! I actually never really knew this about him until once when I ate my sandwich in his car (then still 2 month-new) and dropped a teeny morsel of chicken somewhere and he spent every red light stop looking for that stupid piece of chicken! And then one day, I opened his boot and looking back at me was one box labeled "Dirty Stuff", one box labeled "Clean Stuff". God forbid things in the car to be scattered in disarray!! And don't you even dare "drop tears in my car." Yes - that's what he told a friend's kid! They were visiting and she was crying in the car and that was what he said! Truly! It stopped the crying like in a nanosecond!! Till this day, we all still joked about it. Sorry, I think I got a bit carried away writing about all our stick-up-our-butt stuff. What I'm saying is that, being in a relationship means learning to deal with all these crazies about each other. In sickness and in health y'all. "And this is my sickness," as Monica would say :)

The boys,... I hadn't realized how we affected them. True that MOH is always in the newspapers and the kids go "oh, so cool." When we were asking the boys which field they're interested in after they "graduate" from #SoyAi, all of them said 'marketing'. Ummm... Houston, we have a problem. I realized that it could be because of the two of us being in the marketing field and they just decided that marketing was the way to go for their choice of career. That was when I called in reinforcements to introduce them to stuff like plannogram, physical packaging, other stuff, not marketing. I never had someone present options like these to me when I was younger. I could've been on the BAU team if I had known more options :P Anyway, the serious shocker for me was in one chit-chat session I had with the boys and we spoke about girlfriends and marriage (you know, they're all 18 and I have to make sure they don't go making babies outside!!), one of them said this : "Ma Eileen, how Ko Richard find you? Because girl same-same like you, cannot find. I want to find." My heart broke a little for him. I wish to tell him, my dear boy, there are plenty of girls who are awesome out there with golden hearts and would be deserving of your love and attention. Instead, I said "If you work hard now, you have a better future, when you are 30 years old, you will find same-same girl like me because Ko Richard also found me when he was 30 years old." Silence..... LMAO.

In one of our deep-meaningful conversations, we spoke about the future. I mean, it's obvious that we will never have kids (I'm sorry to say, but THANK GOD!!!) And to be honest, we don't expect any of the children we help to look after us. We were initially considering some "assisted living" homes in Thailand or something like that.... But we've got a new plan. Here's what we plan to do : we will both continue working our asses off for another 6 more years. After which, we intend to quit, sell whatever we have, and we would go travel to adventure zones doing voluntary work for underprivileged communities. I think we would still be fit and able then (I'm picturing us dodging bullets right now and I'm going "Faster la Fatty!!" LMAO!!)  and we'd try to save the world one community at a time. We still champion the fact that education is the best weapon against poverty.

To the world's most awesome husband a girl could ever ask for........

Thank You for letting me be as "samseng" as I like. 

Thank You for the daily laughs. Every second of it is enjoyable. Especially when I'm pranking you.
Thank You for letting me drive your car even though I constantly "drop sweat in your car."

Thank You for letting me eat you poor :) But you're still the fatter one :P
Thank You for loving me in your own way, the way you know best.
Thank You for letting me love you in my own way, the way I know best.

It's still you and me, just us two :) #4eva 

p/s : font-size changed for the reading pleasure of my Mama & Papa :) 

Me & Fight Camp

Fight Camp 2 - Day 1.... so many campers! 

"Will you join Fight Camp with me?" I asked MOH. His response? "You want me to die izzit??!" :P

So, I signed up anyway. I don't usually train in a group and haven't done a "group" fitness activity like in years! Even at Saya Lone Chaw's place, I don't train in a group. I dunno, call me anti-social? Considering my training regime every mornings, MOH went like "Are you crazy??" Well, I am. I am crazy about training. And when I read about Fight Camp, I just thought - ok - why the hell not. It could be fun.

So, 6 weeks ago, I attended my first ever group fitness boot camp and 6 weeks later, I've survived the last class. How was it? Here's how I described it to my Mama & Papa - in the first week of class, everyone was excited and full of energy, it was hello, hello! how are you! The 3rd week saw us (me included), crawling up the stairs to the boot camp room, too tired to go hello! hello! how are you! Just a simple nod will do - that is if my neck wasn't stiff :P By the 5th week, we saw many drop-outs and that's always shitty because the less people in the class meant more eyes on you!! Noooooo!!!

In the 6 weeks of Fight Camp, my entire body had remained sore constantly. Problem was, I didn't stop my normal training and I was still chasing for that personal best in my sprints, in my 25km runs, in my swims, in my bike every time I'm training and with the additional ten million squats and infinity push-ups I had to do, my recovery time was very much shortened. Don't. Even. Get. Me. Started. On. The. Bloody. Burpees. I. HATE. BURPEES. I detest! I detest! I detest them vehemently.

But you know what? Fight Camp made me realize that many a limits are usually in da head. Many, many years ago, when I started being active, I could never do a full push-up nor a pull-up. As such, up till recently, I had never bothered attempting to do so. And that was me, being "pretty fit". When the coaches said "full push-ups" no "knees"... I was like shit. And then I did like 50 that first class (it was the bloody 10 kicks left, 10 kicks right, 10 FULL push-ups and repeat for what felt like ten million minutes!) And the pull-ups. God, I never knew! I could even "hold" it right up there. Yeah, it was much easier with the coach standing below you going "Hold it! Hold it! C'mon!!!!! Hold it!!" In the first pull-up attempt, I managed to complete 30 pull-ups in a circuit. I was literally quite impressed with myself. LOL! Who knew???

Then came the Death By Burpees. Aaargh. As many of those darn things you can do in 1 minute for 15 minutes. You see, in my head, I don't know why, but only 15 burpees registered. But then a fellow camper pointed out that if you worked out the math, it was 105 burpees in the 15 minutes (105 for me, more than that for those who were much fitter!). I was like - whoa!! What??? 105? I've never done that before!!! I. Still. HATE. Burpees. :P But you see, I'm now forcing myself to do them even in my own morning training. Sometimes, what you hate could actually be good for you :/

Needless to say, Fight Camp was awesome! It was good just to see how fit I really was - and I realized I'm not all that fit. It was good to challenge myself that much more - try 30 pull-ups and then going for Saya Lone Chaw's class the next day, taking it 6 rounds in the ring and another 12 rounds on the punching bag. And telling yourself, it's all in the damn mind.

I love training and I love pushing myself all the time. And I also love seeing really strong people. I like to see determination in people. And there were some serious campers who were awesomely fit. Best part was, we all go there and whilst we trained, we also had a good time laughing. Because by the 3rd class, we're exchanging understanding smiles. We saw each other's legs shaking while doing the Hell Squats, and we're like "yeah, I feel your pain, but I can't even really laugh now cos I if I did that, I would keel over!" And by the way, the coaches just have some seriously fancy names for torture. Who names 1,000 punches "Sweet Sixteen"???? Death by Burpees though, speaks for itself :P

Somedays, I went in to class, willing myself to try. God forbid if I embarrassed Saya Lone Chaw's good name! Then, there were days where I went into class and it's some crazy circuit (Hell Everything :P) and I'm hungry and I'm telling myself, "F***, Saya Lone Chaw can disown me for all I care!!!" :P

Who knew, despite not really going all the way out in Fight Camp because I've serious knee issues and a yet-to-heal sprained ankle, I would still come out gaining yet another level of fitness. I'm kicking harder, I think I've more strength in my upper body and best part of all - I am now able to cause Saya Lone Chaw some pain when we spar. And I think he realized that I've grown stronger because I no longer get a 1 minute rest after 4 minutes. I get a 1 minute rest after 9 minutes in the ring. By the way, I also managed to put on some weight cos I thought Fight Camp was an excuse to eat more... Wooots!!

I'm gearing up for my first triathlon race after a 4 year hiatus this coming October. It's not possible for a podium win but I'll die trying to keep my record clean at least :)

To the coaches (L & L) who brought Fight Camp to Yangon (who knew such professional training could be found in Yangon?? 3 years ago, there were only gyms with equipment from the 1980s!!), awesome classes. You can tell how much I hated burpees because not once was I ever late for class (every minute = 5 bloody burpees as punishment). I will never ever forget Death By Burpees and Buns of Steel. Sadly, I'll be missing the next Fight Camp as I'm gearing up to push all the way for my October race. Hope to be back next Fight Camp!

Meanwhile - to all the other Fight Campers - Fight On !!! And thanks for the laughs and thanks for those who held the pads for me. I truly sucked at holding them!

With the national Lethwei champ - Saya Lone Chaw

3rd Year of loving Myanmar

We got Myanmar wedding portraits done the first
year we were here. Super fun! 

Every time I start my blog piece, I always have to clean out the cobwebs first. Yes, I can't find the time to blog, let alone upkeep it. But I at least make it a point to blog my milestones :)

And then because it is only milestones, I will start with - OMG, time really flew by! 3 years, baby! I survived!! 3 years ago, on exactly the same date, I arrived to rainy Yangon, luggages and all, and was picked up by MOH's colleagues. Traffic was ... huh? What traffic? :P I spent 3 weeks cooped up in a hotel (Shwe Gone Daing Hotel to be exact) and lived out of my luggage because we haven't settled our housing arrangements.

Coming straight from Cambodia, it was still a shocker. Especially the housing arrangement. Admittedly, I had been spoilt silly by my Cambodian landlady who cooked for me and even the slightest "Madame! The door knob is a little loose!" she'll send her handyman running up the stairs. Myanmar? The roof could blow away the landlord couldn't care less because you had already paid your year's rental in advanced. Fast-forward 3 years.... it's still the same. Oh, not exactly. Rental rates had quadrupled in the last 3 years. Don't get me started on the housing nightmare that I've had to experience since arriving to Myanmar. I've had my fair share of indoor swimming pools, indoor waterfalls and landlord who kicked us out.... Ahhh, but this year, this year, (Thank You Mr. B!!), the landlord had been kind, the apartment had no issues (except a tiny leak) and he'll renew the lease for us for another year with only a USD100 increase from previous rent. I'm not hopeful that the leak would be fixed, but I'll live. I just don't want to handle another move. Not in the middle of the rain, not in the middle of my nightmare project at work. And another bright side is - I'm all adjusted to this strange "water pump" thingy as well as "inverters" although ours had busted after 2 years. Let me tell you - that water pump thing - when we first arrived, we had moments where we flooded the house simply because we forgot to turn it off! Pretty sure I'm not the only foreigner to do that :P

Speaking of work........ Haha. When we moved to Myanmar, MOH expected me to stay home and be a housewife. It lasted all of 7 days before I wanted to murder him. First of all, I don't think I was born with the "tai-tai" spoon. Second of all, sure, I can do the housework but with no electricity and no water,....... you've gotta be kidding me :P So, right after the strangulation episode, he agreed I needed to get out and get a job, any job and then DBW sent a Lexus to pick me up for an interview and I was supposedly interviewing for the job as a cashier. She had seen my CV and naturally, she thought I was joking. I told her I was about to strangle my husband and I just wanted to get out of the house. I also told her I couldn't do full-time, to be fair because I have my own businesses which I still oversee. A week later, she offered me a consultant's job with a 3 hours x 3 days per week schedule. 3 years and millions of work bloopers later, I'm still here, still "officially" on 3 hours x 3 days per week... but you see, DBW, she had increased my salary since the first month at work. For the first time in my life, my salary scale had been increased at a tremendously fast rate in a short period of 3 years. Needless to say, the dream arrangement of 3 hrs remains just that - "official". LOL! Today, as a result of 'put your hands up! put your hands up!' I head up the digital team and I drive all digital efforts within the organization, aside from the CSR, IMC, HR stuff and a whole lot more. I supposed, I'm still very passionate about my work and most of all I am passionate about learning. I don't know retail except from maybe doing weekly groceries. But here I am. And oh - I also bring a helmet to work - for all the #bangheadonwall moments :P Sometimes, I also wonder if DBW increased my salary like... like a lot, because she knows that I am using it to help her people - the people of Myanmar.

3 years have also seen my voluntary weekends turn into an everyday job - #myOtherLife :P As most would know, MOH and I started a Youth Centre and a self-sustainability project for the Children of Tomorrow and the climb is still very much uphill. But like my passion with my job, I'm even more passionate with guiding and mentoring all these kids who had really difficult backgrounds and hence, difficult emotional and mental states. Again, steep learning curve. I'm not a trained teacher nor counsellor nor anything. Just using my heart to help them the best way I know how. And with the support of so many great and kind friends both locally and abroad.... I sincerely hope these kids have a chance at a better tomorrow. I'll be honest, some days, after lots of head-banging at work, I feel really tired and I would ask myself - OMG, what did I get myself into? What happened to just volunteering my weekends?? These are days where I feel, shiiiiiitee!! The climb is so steep, I'm gonna tumble and fall with all of them in tow! But most days, no matter how tired I am, when I see their smiles, I see their excitement over a small, tiny win....it becomes all worth it. So, the Youth Centre's lease will be renewed for another year as well. This year, I didn't go cycling 192km to raise the funds. This year, we offered the Centre out for rent for a 6 weeks workshop carried out by an NGO. So, yay! Rental settled! :)

You know, sometimes, I really do miss the Myanmar of 2012 when I first arrived (except the 7-hour power outages, no internet and USD350 SIM card that can't call properly problems :P)... I mean, back then, aside from the awesome no-traffic condition, there was like kindness in the air itself. There was no feeling whatsoever of people being out to get you because you're a foreigner. The rate for flagging down taxis started at 1,500 Ks. No need for negotiation. (Sometimes, I miss those Flintstone taxis too!! LOL!). Donation boxes filled with monies to the brim were placed right out there on the streets and no one would be guarding it and it'll still be there the next day! Everywhere, you'd hear of stories of thousands of dollars in cash returned to owners, laptops lost will be returned, hell, once MOH left his camera in the taxi and the taxi driver drove all the way back to his office to return it without expecting anything. We had a whole block of friendly local neighbours who invited us to their homes for food (and I so love the food!), who came up to check on us to make sure we're ok and we're settling in well into their country. The immigration staff were friendly, the people at the ticketing counter of Shwedagon Pagoda were friendly.

I'm actually really, really sad that I see this diminishing daily. Of course, I still have really nice local neighbours - there's an aunty who cooks for me too! But I don't expect the whole block of local neighbours to look in on us anytime cos these days, there are also whole blocks of foreigners. How many can they check up on? LOL! My saddest is to see the state of Shwedagon Pagoda now. I last went there in November of 2014. Nevermind that the staff was rude, but I felt so taken for a ride with the longyi crap that they made my godson rent when he wasn't even wearing shorts! That place used to give me so much peace, but today, it is dotted with ATMs and LEDs, it's a damn shame. Good thing is, we can see the Shwedagon from a far so when I go on my runs, I make it a point to say hi to Mr. B. But I wouldn't pay USD8 to go in there again. Sadder still is reading the expat forums and being warned about women taking taxis especially at nights. What happened to the safest city in the world? These days, you'd read of robberies, mugging and even petty thefts - like how we ourselves got a few pair of shoes stolen even though it is behind locked grills. (Eventually, I got fed-up and left a note outside in Burmese saying - "don't steal. If you need something, knock on my door to ask. I'm willing to help." The stealing stopped.) When we go out nowadays, we can see how everyone's faces are literally stuck on their phones - thanks to cheap SIMs and cheap China phones.

I suppose, that's the price people pay for building the road towards development. Still, I try to see the beautiful side of Myanmar. I'll never forget this scene I once witnessed - a young YCDC garbage collector ran across this big main road full of zooming cars to push a few hundred kyats into the hands of an old beggar woman. That moment, my heart was like... ohhh. So I very much still believe there are good and kind people everywhere. And they come in many different forms. We may not be rich, but we can still share what we have with people who are not as privileged as we are. The old lady whom I buy flowers from,... well, she's no longer at her usual spot and nobody knows where she went. I pray everyday that she is in a better place, is all.

I've just finished my 3rd winter, and an excruciatingly hot 3rd summer and seasonal changes are like that where your body gets adjusted to the season and then it changes and in Myanmar, it changes abruptly! So, counting my 4th rainy season - it means, I'm well-trained to battle the mold problems - I remember vividly the first year we arrived and the mold was like some sort of alien mold which just wouldn't die or go away....!! Aiyaaa!! I'm looking forward to my 4th winter.... but for now, I cannot wait for 6 months of dreary rain to go away.....

Myanmar's charms may be diminishing, and since I intend to call it my home (for how long? I don't know. We don't know. But we are after all, citizens of the world...).... I'll continue venturing out with my eyes wide opened in case I miss these little acts of kindness that always give me hope for this country and her people.

p/s : font-size changed for the ease of my Mama's and Papa's reading :) 

Eating in the Shwe Gone Daing hotel room when we first arrived. I stayed 2 weeks..
But MOH had to be all hotel-cooped-up for 2 months. LOL! 

Cleaning out our 1st apartment, no water, no electricity, NOT HAPPY!! 

Back then, no car, no driver, life was a lot simpler :)
Here taken after grocery shopping, jungle-trekking back home :) 

Cooking of the hta ma net! YUMMY! 

One of the many local community gatherings we attended...
This here was the cooking of the hta ma net - a sticky rice thing that
required a few strong men to cook

Perhaps the funniest moment ever of my time in Myanmar -
taking the Myanmar driving test! With bad translation and a simulator and
adjustable parking space. LMAO!!